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Residents About to Get Trashed?

 

By: Frank Parlato

Analysis

Because of his lack of executive ability, Mayor Paul Dyster allowed Gov. Andrew Cuomo to renew the Seneca compact in Niagara Falls without remembering to put in a requirement for the Senecas to pay anything to the city.

The Senecas operate a tax-free casino, gas station, smoke shop and stores in downtown Niagara Falls.

The Seneca used to pay the city $16 million per year. Dyster lost that.

Now the city is facing a huge deficit

Can you imagine? Dyster let Gov. Cuomo get the compact renewed without ever asking – ‘Hey, Gov. – what does the city I represent get?’

Dyster’s blunder cost $16 million per year and nobody says nothing. It will take a lot to overcome Dyster’s blunder.

Even before he fumbled, Niagara Falls was one of the most poorly governed cities. Where else can you find a city with the greatest natural hydro power in the world and the most famous waterfalls, which 8 million tourists come to see every year – that is utterly broke and has the highest crime in the state and the highest taxes?

The city already had super high expenses before Dyster fumbled away $16 million per year.

Similar sized and larger cities like Binghamton, Troy, Utica, and Schenectady all have lower costs.

Niagara Falls’ expenses are $91.4 million (for a population of 47,000).

Schenectady [66,000 people] spends less – $85.2 million. Troy [48,000] spends almost $20 million less — $73.6 million. Utica [60,000] spends $72.4 million. Binghamton [47,000] – the same size as Niagara Falls – spends $25 million less – $65.3 million.

But Dyster is a spender. A tax and spender. Because of that and his colossal Seneca blunder, the city will have a huge deficit.

So, what are we going to do?

The city council came up with some ideas:

Get city employees to contribute more to health insurance.

Cut expenses.

Eliminate positions through retirement.

Enter into Shared Service agreements with local municipalities and the school district.

Consolidate departments.

Change to LED lighting throughout the city.

Dyster has better ideas: Raise taxes and charge residents, businesses and not for profits – a user tax for garbage collection.

If everyone paid $200-$300 per year more for garbage pickup, it could cut a little into the deficit – making up for about 25 percent of what Dyster lost for us with the Senecas.

It is no joke. Dyster wants to keep this on the down low for now. But he has already presented his plan for a new garbage fee at the first “Let’s Talk Budget” meeting.

Garbage in, garbage out, could be

Dyster’s motto.

It was always a stupid plan.

His topsy-turvy 64 -gallon garbage

totes and 96-gallon recyclable totes

is exactly the opposite of all neighboring communities.

It is the most restrictive garbage plan in the area.

Pre-Dyster, people could throw out as many bags or cans as a household needed.

But Dyster said it would save taxpayers money. Dyster said increased recycling would bring down the cost of garbage collection. The city would save $500,000 a year.

The program went into effect August 2014. Dyster’s promise of saving taxpayers was pure garbage.

In 2013, the last year prior to Dyster’s new garbage plan, the city paid Modern Disposal $2.9 million for trash collection.  In 2014, it cost the city $3.1 million.  Now it’s $3.7 million.

Typical Dyster. Whatever he says or does, it always costs more.  And nobody holds him accountable.

If Dyster gets his way, on top of the already high taxes people pay here for his sickly bloated government – residents are going to pay another $3.7 million in user fees.

And no one will hold him accountable.

See you at the casino.